“Being a household name, does that equal success? I don't
think so. I think success is working. A lot of people talk about
working hard and being rejected for shows, but you have to pay your
dues and work on your craft and prove to yourself and maybe to others
as well, that you can do this.” Sara Ramirez

Mexican-American actress Sara Ramirez is popular to television
audiences as orthopedic surgeon Dr. Callie Torres on ABC's successful
medical drama series “Grey's Anatomy,” a role she has had
since 2006. She has taken home a Screen Actors Guild Award, an Imagen
nomination and two ALMA nominations for her performance. Prior to
“Grey's Anatomy,” Ramirez was famous for playing The Lady
of the Lake in the Broadway hit Monty Python's “Spamalot”
(2005), from which she netted a Tony Award and an Outer Critics
Circle Award. It was her performance in the play that won the
smoky-voiced actress her part in the TV series. Ramirez also had
roles in the films “You've Got Mail” (1998), “Spider-Man”
(2002) and “Chicago” (2002) and guest starred in TV
series such as “Spin City,” “Third Watch,”
“Law & Order: SVU,” “As the World Turns”
and “NYPD Blue.” Ramirez is also a singer.

Ramirez was named on People Magazine's “100 Most Beautiful
People in the World, Beauty at Every Age section,” for age 31,
in May 2007.

Bilingual

Childhood and Family:

Sara Ramirez was born on August 31, 1975, in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, a
renowned beach resort on the Pacific coast of Mexico, to a Mexican
father and a half Mexican and half Irish American mother. After her
parents divorced, she and her mother moved to the U.S., where they
lived in San Diego, California. At the time, Sara was eight years
old.

Sara attended the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts
in San Diego, who’s noted alumni include Tony Award winner
Christian Hoff, television personality Amanda Lewis, and film actress
Julia D'Orazio. She later went to the prestigious Juilliard School of
Drama in New York City.

Sara is fluent in Spanish and English.

Spamalot

Career:

Sara Ramirez acted in a number of productions and musicals during
high school, which paved a way for her career on Broadway. A graduate
of Julliard, she made her Broadway debut in 1998 when she got the
role of Wahzinak in Paul Simon's musical “The Capeman,”
which starred Marc Anthony and Rubén Blades. She picked up an
Outer Critics Circle for her performance in the play. Simultaneously,
she hit the big screen with a small part in “You've Got Mail”
(1998), a romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and
directed and scripted by Nora Ephron.

In 1999, Ramirez appeared in a Broadway musical of The Gershwins'
“Fascinating Rhythm” at the Longacre Theatre. She then
worked with Tovah Feldshuh and Suzanne Bertish in “The Vagina
Monologues,” a play written by Eve Ensler. She also provided
her voice for the video game “UmJammer Lammy.” The
following year, Ramirez appeared with Paget Brewster, Eric Jungmann
and Pat Kilbane in a pilot for the TV show “Star Patrol”
(2000), but the series was not picked up. She also made guest
appearances in the TV series “Spin City” (2000), “Third
Watch” (2000), “Law & Order: SVU” (2000) and
“Welcome to New York” (2000).

Following performances in the Broadway musical “A Class Act”
at the Ambassador Theatre and in a special one day Broadway show of
“Dreamgirls” at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts
(both 2001), Ramirez earned notice as a police officer on the box
office hit “Spider-Man” (2002), which starred Tobey
Maguire.

After “Spider-Man,” Ramirez landed a supporting role
on the Alfredo De Villa award-winning drama “Washington
Heights” (2002), in which she costarred with Manny Perez, Danny
Hoch, Bobby Cannavale, Callie Thorne and Judy Reyes. She then
portrayed Gabrielle in the unsold TV series pilot “Baseball
Wives” (2002), helmed by noted actor Steve Buscemi, and
returned to “Law & Order: SVU” when she portrayed
Lisa Perez on the 2002 episode “Chameleon.” She also had
a featured role in the Rob Marshall hit “Chicago” (2002),
which starred Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard
Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Taye Diggs and Christine
Baranski.

Ramirez next appeared in the made-for-TV film “Naked Hotel”
(ABC, 2003), directed by Phil Joanou and starring John Corbett, and
in episodes of CBS' “As the World Turns” (2003, as
Hannah) and “NYPD Blue” (2004, as Irma Pacheco). However,
in 2005 the Latin beauty acquired considerable recognition when Mike
Nichols cast her in the role of The Lady of the Lake on the original
Broadway production of Monty Python's “Spamalot,”
opposite Tim Curry as King Arthur, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin,
and Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot. The show was a critical and
commercial success and won three Tony Awards, including Best Musical
and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (for
Ramirez). Ramirez also picked up a 2005 Outer Critics Circle for
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.

After her Tony win, Ramirez got her breakout TV role as Dr.
Calliope “Callie” Torres on her favorite TV show, “Grey's
Anatomy.” She joined the ABC hit in Season 2 as a recurring
player and progressed to the regular cast the following season. In
addition to fame, “Grey's Anatomy” also brought Ramirez a
2007 Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble
in a Drama Series, plus an additional nomination in the same category
in 2008, a 2007 Imagen nomination for Best Supporting Actress -
Television, and two ALMA nominations for Outstanding Actress -
Television Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie.

“The weird thing about working in television is that you
only see the people that you’re in scenes with. It’s not
like you’re all running around the set together. So if you’re
going to hang out together, you kind of have to make an effort and I
think people have families, people have lives.” Sara Ramirez

When ABC's Grey's Anatomy returns for its 10th season, the action picks up immediately as the staff at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital finds themselves in the thick of the superstorm that promises to be...